BoE extends weekly emergency liquidity operations until end of May

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FILE PHOTO: An empty bus is driven through the quiet streets outside the Bank of England in the early hours, as the city is deserted at night like never before, while the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown continues, in London, Britain April 22, 2020. Picture taken April 22, 2020. Picture taken with a slow shutter speed. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England said it would keep holding weekly auctions of one-month and three-month sterling funds under its emergency Contingent Term Repo Facility (CTRF) until the end of May, extending a measure to calm coronavirus-related market tensions.

The BoE revived the CTRF for the first time since 2012 in late March, when it drew more than 11 billion pounds of demand from British financial institutions.

Recent operations have seen much lower demand, and at Friday’s operation for one-month funds there were no requests from banks.

“The Bank will continue to monitor market conditions carefully and the operation of the CTRF remains under review. The Bank stands ready to take additional action if necessary,” the BoE said in a statement.